Photo ID: 112175 Date Shot Photo By Friday, April 4, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 18 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Overnight, there was a light dusting of snow that fell in the Denver-Metro area. This might be the last snow of the 2024-2025 winter season, but that certainly is not guaranteed. The morning Zephyr rolls west on the main at Plain. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112174 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 29 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific From a railfan "keeping an eye on the rails when I can" perspective, it seems as though UP has been running more trains on the Moffat lately. Note only has there seemingly been an slight uptick in oil train traffic, but I have noticed several coal trains run on the Moffat in the last 10 days as well. Here, an eastbound oil train, with three GEs on the point, is approaching the west end of Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112173 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 31 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound UP oil train rounds the curve that will take it to a clear (green) signal at the west end of Leyden. If you look closely, you can spot the trio of DPUs that have been cut in to the train, roughly 2/3s of the way back. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112172 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 23 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This GP40-2 (now designated as a GP40N after UP did some rebuilding) is no stranger to these rails! It has been roaming on the Moffat off and on for 53 years! It was delivered to Rio Grande as DRGW 3105 in April 1972. Today, it is leading the West Local back toward North Yard with a string of 41 gondolas in tow. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112171 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Kipling Street (MP 9.81) Arvada, CO 28 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A former Rio Grande GP40-2 (ex-DRGW 3105), now a UP GP40N, leads the West Local east at the intermediate at MP 9.8 on the way back toward North Yard. These 41 gondolas have been stored in the siding at Leyden for six months! With the local taking them back to town, the siding is finally available again for the dispatcher to use for meets. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112170 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS012 (East Leyden) Arvada, CO 35 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific With the West Local airing up, about ready to return to Denver with a string of 41 gondolas that have been stored in the siding of Leyden for six months, the train will have to wait a little bit longer. A westbound UP coal empty charges west on the main track, a freshly painted C44ACM leading the way. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112169 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 32 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The engineer on the West Local is hanging out in the cab as the conductor walks back along the train, knocking off hand brakes on a strand of 41 gondolas. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112168 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 30 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific When I was a kid, I remember seeing "Rail Box" boxcars and "Rail Gon" gondolas. Rail Box boxcars are pretty rare in 2025, but you can definitely still find Rail Gon gondolas. One such example is one of 41 gondolas that have been tied down in the siding at Leyden for the past six months. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112167 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS012 (East Leyden) Arvada, CO 31 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific While waiting for the dispatcher to flag the west local onto the siding at Leyden, here is a closeup look at the top of the cab of UP 1358. Note that it was last repainted at North Little Rock (NLR) on October 14, 2021. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112166 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS012 (East Leyden) Arvada, CO 29 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The crew on the West Local is waiting patiently for DS-378 to throw the switch and flag them past a red signal into the siding at Leyden, against a strand of 41 gondolas in the siding. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112165 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 36 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A GP40N and a GP38N are power on the West Local. This is the first time the West Local has been called in months, save for about a week ago when it came out and picked up half the gondolas being stored at Leyden. Today, it has again been called to come out to Leyden and pick up the 41 remaining gondolas still tied down in storage at Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112164 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 38 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific After six months of being tied down in the siding at Leyden, 41 gondolas are about to be taken back to Denver by the West Local. The conductor is adding the EOT (End Of Train) device to the end of the string of gondolas. The power for the local is waiting on the main. Note the rust that has gathered on the siding after six months of not being used. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112163 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 35 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF This is one of the more interesting covered hoppers you might come across. It looks like a box car that was modified to be a covered hopper. Regardless, on this particular day, it is serving as a buffer car between the head end power and the loaded oil train behind it. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112162 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 32 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Whenever a train is tied down in a siding along the mainline, a derail is always set. As you can see here, a derail does exactly what it sounds like. It is intentionally causes the train to derail. Should something fail, resulting in the train rolling without a crew, it will derail here, on the siding, before it can roll out onto the main, possibly striking another train, or derailing in a populated area. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112161 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, April 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 29 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A trio of units lead an eastbound BNSF oil train. The train arrived Rocky roughly 12 hours ago. It was tied down and the train has been waiting for a fresh crew since then. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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